idiot board ['i-dE-&t 'bord] noun.
1. In TV production: a board or card on which script or a cue is written, held up out of camera-shot for a presenter to read from.
2. A series of pollution-induced neurotic articles written by a frustrated survivor here in the Philippines.

February 04, 2005

In Want of a Phone

May the thief who stole it be infested by a thousand lice. I bought a second-hand phone today as a replacement for my stolen unit. Some people may cringe at how plebian that may sound, but in my current situation wherein I have yet to receive my first paycheck, any phone for that matter will do. Having no phone at first felt liberating, but as soon as the commitments and obligations pour in, one cannot stand idly by and watch his job and private life slip pass through him. And although I crave to have a MMS-supported celphone with the cameras, videos, MP3s and whatnots, I don't have the means to demand for it. Mom can procure one but at this age and time, demanding for such a unit is deemed ostentatious. It's like saying that the poor cannot eat three times a day, and yet they still have a budget for buying load.
So, no choice but to get a cheaper phone; at least my headache will not be as intense if this one gets stolen again.

And so I got a 2nd-hand 6210 that has neither been repaired, tinkered, nor reconditioned. I found out that older discontinued phones peddled by scam artists inside Greenhills, Robinson's malls, and tiangges have been opened and recondition to look like brand new. It is dangerous to buy one because, according to one of the stall owners, the signal becomes unpredictable. Perhaps that is the reason why its warranty covers for a year. These sellers are really devious, cunning and shrewd, just like Shylock the Jew in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. In the Philippines' the bad rap for shrewdness goes to our fellow Muslims from the south. My experiences in DVD buying in their lairs in Downtown Quiapo affirms that sentiment.

Speaking of MMS phones, I really have to congratulate Globe, Smart and Sun companies for brainwashing the whole population in making them crave for higher-end phones, spawning pickpockets and hold-ups everywhere. Thanks for the colored ads in the Star and Inquirer where you placed celebrities brandishing and enjoying your latest model, hence, making us feel that we have to change phones every year so to keep up with the latest Nokia. Thank you also for making us feel that our phones are never good enough (or never functional enough) where in fact the only use for it is texting and calling up people. Thank you also for not reminding us that our phone's market value will drop half-fold by the end of the year thereby making us unaware of the wasted money we invested in such a "depreciable" unit. Take for instance the Nokia 6600: at first, it was being sold at P24,000, then after a year, P18,000, now, P16,000, and if one gets it at Buy&Sell it's P12,000. This is sad, really sad.

Now, who's more shrewd? Cellphone companies or the muslim sellers? Take your pick.